Rhea's Story
by Paige McCarthy
Summary: Rhea is a childhood friend is Sora and Shiro, but moves in with them after forming Blank together. She is taken to Disboard with the siblings and specialised in information recovery and strategy out of the three.


Disclaimer: I do not own 'No Game No Life' in any way, shape or form... No matter how much I wish that I did~! I only own Rhea!

Chapter One:

"I can't believe it..." Queen said to herself, "There are only seven of them! Yet... They beat 1,200 players?! But... It ends here!" She recharged her mana and activated the spell, "You're mine!"

At the last possible second, the male character in front of her dodged the attack, countering by targeting Queen from above.

"No way..." She thought as he descended upon her, "He dodged that?!"

 _There are thousands of urban legends out there, but have you ever heard of anything quite like this one?  
Having never suffered defeat, getting unbreakable high scores, one group of anonymous players reign absolute in all manner of online games.  
Because none of their accounts actually have names, they've been dubbed 'Blank'. Legendary gamers said to be undefeatable... And thus, the rumours continued to spread like wildfires.  
Urban legends...are a bit like wishful thinking. Because...in reality, the truth is often less interesting than people wish for it to be._

"We managed somehow..." Sora groaned out. 'Brother: Kuu (read Sora), 18. Virgin, Athropophobic, NEET, Game Addict.' "Say, Imouto, would you mind not controlling Blank's main account with your feet?"

'Sister: Haku (read Shiro), 11. Truant, Anthropophobic, Shut-In, Game Addict.'

"But I'm hungry," Shiro replied quietly. "Want some, Nii?"

"Don't mind if I do."

"Rhea? Want some...?" Shiro asked their only friend.

"No thanks, I've got a box of home-made macarons here~! Although, I don't plan on sharing any time soon..."

'Friend: Rhea, 16. Lazy, Shut-In, NEET, Game Addict.'

The siblings sweat-drop. "Right..." They chorus.

"Never thought you'd go for fancy rations like these, Imouto. I'm not quite as surprised at Rhea's choice though." Sora commented as he returned to his console to continue his gaming.

"Nutrition is vital." The youngest replied, continuing her game as well, only playing with her feet.

"Imouto, the Brain needs nothing more than glucose to function. White bread has the best cost-performance ratio."

"Thanks for the lesson on efficiency."

"I'm still adamant that macarons are more important to me." Rhea murmured from her post next to Sora.

"But I won't grow without the proper nutrients," Shiro continued, "Just look at Rhea, she eats more, so she has more..."

"You're already a perfect, flawless beauty, so why worry? Anyways, what's the time?" Her brother inquired.

"Um...8 am. Middle of the night." Rhea answered for Shiro, who was busy staring at her own chest.

"What day?"

"Does it matter to a NEET?" Shiro began to sway and fall asleep as she answered this.

"Of course it does! We can't miss any MMO events or ladder tournaments... Wait! I know we've been awake for five days straight, but I won't have a healer if you quit now!"

In return, Shiro sat up and put the mice under her brother's feet. "You can do it."

"Hey, are you telling me to control four characters using both hands and feet?"

She tilted her head innocently and simply stated, "Fight!" in an adorable tone before curling up in a ball and falling back asleep.

"Wait! Please wait! Shiro-san! If you sleep then everyone is going to die!" Sora exclaimed before turning to Rhea with a pleading look in his eyes, "Rhea-sama! Please... No! Not you too! How do you fall asleep whilst eating macarons?! Wake up!" She slowly lifted her gaze and sluggishly returned to her characters, still eating the chocolatey delight. "Better! But how am I supposed to control four characters?! Shiro! Uuuugh! Fine, bring it on!"

 _The world is chaotic, irrational and unfair. It is devoid of meaning. A wish arises from the earnest yearnings of those who realise this and refuse to accept it. They wish for the world to be a little less boring. And thus...urban legends are born._

 _'Well then, let me spice things up for you a little. For the time being, I'll be subtle and limit myself to writing: "Have you ever heard a story that goes something like this?"'_

A message suddenly appeared on Shiro's tablet.

"Nii, Rhea...a message." She explained the notification without stirring.

"I've been playing four characters on four different screens. I don't know what you want, but I'm sure Rhea can handle it." He replied hastily, panting.

As if timed perfectly, Rhea began to stir and move towards Shiro, rolling her chair next to her and sluggishly raising a hand to open the e-mail whilst her friends continued their conversation.

"It might be from a friend."

"Whose?"

"Yours?" Both girls inquired at the same time.

"That's weird. I get the feeling that the two beloved girls in my life just said something really nasty and sarcastic to me!"

Rhea's face changed to a look of surprise as she read the e-mail.

 _'Have you three ever felt as if you were born in the wrong world?'_

"What's this? Sora, Shiro, look at this... We almost never play with three characters and rarely with any number that is related to the number three... How could they know Blank's made up of three people from the few times we've played with six or nine characters? I prefer to play as three whenever possible because my favourite number is seven... And how would they know to only send it to one e-mail address to contact all of Blank?"

"What do we do?" Shiro asked, having finally woken.

"Are they trying to strike a bargain?" Sora continued for her.

"No." Rhea answered him, "That's a game link...but that is all that I can tell. They want to challenge us. I can't find the region it came from though, which is worrying."

"Well... Playing along might be fun." He clicked the link whilst smirking. "Huh…? Chess?" The smirk was instantly wiped off his face.

"Good...night," Shiro said whilst swaying once again.

"Hold on there!" Sora panicked, grabbing his sister's arm before she could fall completely, "I can't handle difficult chess programs on my own!"

"Wow...really feeling the love over here, _dear friend_. Because I'm definitely not here to help at all!" Rhea sarcastically remarked, only for Sora to awkwardly laugh while getting out of his chair for Shiro to sit in, having transferred the game over to his computer. He stood behind her before gaining a mischievous glint in his eyes as he picked Rhea up easily, causing her to squeal, and setting her on his lap from the chair she had been sitting in previously.

"Chess is an infinite two-player, zero-sum, perfect information game." Sora quietly explained his thoughts aloud as he began to pet Rhea's bluish-purple knee-length hair, who slumped comfortably against him, allowing Shiro to focus. "In this game where luck plays no part, there exists a perfect strategy, or at least a theory."

"However," Rhea cut him off, "to play flawlessly, one has to be capable of grasping the 10^120 possible states on the board."

Shiro spoke up this time, "Chess is no different...from tic-tac-toe."

"That's right," Rhea murmured, "Shiro's won against high-level programs that bested a grandmaster 20 times in a row, alternating between black and white... If this is a program, then we have absolutely no reason to worry – right Sora?"

"Yeah, but I'm wary of if it's human..." He murmured.

"That would be what we here for, to call the bluffs and traps laid out." She smiled up at him before turning to watch Shiro when she heard the young girl gasp.

"They boxed in their own piece…?" She muttered.

"Wait, Shiro..." Sora placed a hand on top of her head, "A program will always make the best possible move. That's why you can beat them."

"However, the opponent made a bad move to lure you in. As you feared, Sora, they're human." Rhea continued.

"Calm down." Sora told his little sister, "There's no way you'd lose a battle of skill. Let us watch for any tricks they pull."

"Blank is the three of us acting as one." Rhea spoke up, "Let's see if there's anyone out there that can defeat us combined." Sora and Rhea smirked as Shiro had a small smile playing on her lips.

* * *

 _"Checkmate~! You are Winner!"_ The game finally announced. The three players on one side exhausted with bags glaringly obvious under their eyes. Once it registered in their minds that the game was over, all three gave large sighs of relief.

"We won!" Sora half cheered, half moaned.

"I haven't had to try this hard in a while." The white-haired girl commented.

"Damn...were they even human?!" Rhea exclaimed, throwing her hands up and stretching, before curling up on Sora's lap and dozing off slightly, blue and purple eyes only peeking through her hair when she heard the notification sound of another e-mail. _'Please don't be another inhuman challenger!'_ She thought to herself, disdain written across her hidden face.

 _'Well played. Given your gaming skills...Aren't you having a hard time fitting in with society?'_ The message questioned. Rhea's breath hitched as she read.

"What…?" Sora murmured.

 _'How do you three feel about your world? Is it fun? Is it easy to live in?'_ It continued.

"How do we feel about it…?" Rhea asked.

"Though the rules and objectives are completely inscrutable, seven billion players freely make whatever move they want." Sora answered for her, "You're penalised for winning or losing too much. You can't pass your turn, and if you talk too much, you'll be shunned."

"There are no parameters or even a genre." Rhea completed. "This world is just..."

"…A crappy game." All three friends finished together, looking downwards and hiding their eyes.

 _'If there was a place where everything was decided by simple games, a world on a board with clear objectives and rules. What would you make of that?'_

"If a world like that exists," Sora typed whilst reading aloud so Rhea could hear without getting up too much, "we should've been born there instead."

Suddenly, all the screens in the small, dark room turned fuzzy, white noise covering their gasps as they reached out for each other, Rhea immediately sprang up, allowing Sora to stand, each of the teens taking Shiro's hands as they stood together.

"Wha...What the..."Sora began.

"Nii...Rhea..." Shiro whimpered.

"I don't know..." Rhea said, glancing around uneasily.

"I think so too!" Another voice announced, coming from the computer screen they had just been playing on. Hands slowly began to form through the fuzzy screen, holding some kind of large gem. "You three were certainly born in the wrong world! And so, allow me to correct that mistake. Be reborn into your real world!"

The room lit up with red lines around the edges before the walls split apart, revealing a terrifying yet beautiful view of a planet – which obviously wasn't their own – as they began to descend through the atmosphere, free falling alongside the owner of the mysterious voice.

"Welcome...to my world!" The same voice announced from next to Rhea. She squealed slightly in surprise and tried to turn as best she could to face him. Once she had turned, she saw that he was a young boy around her age with heterochromatic eyes stranger than her own – they even had card suits as pupils! He was wearing a strange outfit that was boyish yet cute.

Whilst she had been occupied inspecting the new arrival – having finally managed to manoeuvre herself into a comfortable position with her legs crossed and her hair streaming upwards beside her face – her two friends screeched, "What is this?!"

Sora grabbed his sister, pulling her under his arm to protect her and prevent her from drifting away from him. He reached out towards Rhea to grab her as well, only to notice that she was casually positioned in mid-air, seemingly without a care in the world as she stared at the boy. Jealousy burned red-hot through him as he watched her, narrowing his gaze at the boy. _'What the hell? Why am I jealous at a time like this! And over Rhea…? She's 2 years younger than me! It should be like with you and Shiro! Get these thoughts out of your head!'_ He chided himself and held onto Shiro tighter, reassured that Rhea would be as fine as he could be if they survived this fall. She had always loved heights anyway.

The unnamed boy grabbed Rhea's hand and swooped closer to the siblings before speaking. "This is the utopia you three always dreamt of. The world on a board: Disboard!" He allowed them to glide away from the two, still holding the girl's hand, before continuing, "Everything in this world is decided by simple games. People's lives and even national borders!"

"Who are you…?" The girl on his arm asked shyly.

"Me? I'm Tet. I live over there." He pointed with his free arm towards a large King piece from a chess set, "I'm a God, I guess!" He did a cute pose, holding Rhea closer to his side, closing his eyes and making a heart shape from his coattails, despite the rushing air around them.

"God…?" Shiro thought aloud.

"Now's not the time!" Her older brother interrupted, "What do we do now?!" Tet let go of Rhea's hand, allowing her to free fall beside him as he leaned forward and held up his hands to show his ten digits. She burst into a fit of loud giggles as she swooped and twirled freely in the air, restraining herself to a large grin as Tet began to speak.

"In this world, everything is governed by the Ten Covenants." The god closed his hands into fists and held one finger up, "First: murder, war, and theft are forbidden in this realm." He held up another finger, "Second: All conflicts are to be resolved through victory in games." He held up another, "Third: In those games, items of agreed value are to be bet by both parties." And a fourth, "Fourth: As long as the Third Covenant is respected, particulars of a game and the wager are not to be questioned." He now had one open hand and one fist, "Fifth: the right to decide a game's rules belongs to the challenged." He held up one finger from his left hand, "Sixth: Bets sworn upon the covenants shall be honoured." Yet another finger went up, "Seventh: Conflicts between groups will be resolved by representatives who are given absolute authority." He added another, "Eighth: If cheating is detected during a game, it will result in immediate loss for the cheater." He held up his last finger, "Ninth: In the name of God, the first eight covenants cannot be overturned."

"Is this really the time to explain that?!" Sora shouted at him. "The ground! The ground!"

"Nii!" Shiro squealed.

"Shiro!" Sora quickly turned them around so that he would take the brunt of the impact.

Tet calmly grasped Rhea's hand once again and pulled her close to him, staying upright, although she barely noticed. She seemed deep in thought with a contemplative look on her face. While the siblings made a huge plume of dust, Tet gently lowered Rhea to the ground. She woke from her reverie and gave him a kind smile that he returned happily. He stepped away and leaned over the two on the floor, lifting both his hands and showing all his digits once again.

"And tenth: Let's all have fun playing!" The God turned around and winked at Rhea before disappearing.

"H-Hey!" Sora called.

"Hmm... I thought that winking was my thing." Rhea deadpanned, giving no hints as to whether or not she was joking.

"I look forward to meeting you again. I'm sure it won't be long." Tet's voice called before fading.

"Nii, Rhea..." Shiro murmured, removing herself from on top of her brother. "Where are we?" After a moment of silence, a dragon rose up from the cliff in front of them, lifting their hair with a gust of wind before flying away.

"Imouto...Rhea..." Sora started, "I've always thought of life as an impossible game. Something for masochists, but... Now it's bugged out!"

"What's going on?" Shiro asked. The siblings began to cry hysterically. Rhea smiled from behind them. Listening to Tet's explanation of the covenants had made her realise that this would be a world perfect for the three of them – they could live like royalty if they played their cards right!

"Life's a crappy game!" The two groaned together, staring over the edge of the cliff they had so abruptly landed on.

* * *

 _Long, long, long ago, the deities, and with them, their households and creations, waged an everlasting war against one another to become the one true God, the bearer of absolute authority. The long, gruesome battle was abruptly ended when sky, sea, earth, and stars perished, leaving none of them behind to claim victory. Thus, the single deity who had not participated in the battle, and maintained his strength, won by default and became the one true God. His name was Tet. He was once known as 'God of Play'._

 _"Those of you who think yourself wise after exhausting your strength, violence, military might and desperation to raise a tower of corpses, answer me this: What sets you apart from dumb beasts?"_

 _No excuse would hold up in the face of the ruined world. Thus, God spoke._

 _"Murder, war, and theft are forbidden in this realm," He said. "You sixteen races who think yourselves wise, exhaust your reason, knowledge, skills and wealth to construct a tower of wisdom and prove that you are..."_

"...Indeed wise!" A harsh looking man ended his story with a glare.

"I see." Sora commented absently, absorbed in his phone, "So that's how the world came to be governed by games following the Ten Covenants, huh?"

"That's right. And by the way..." The man continued to glare at them.

"Hm? What?"

"Would it be possible to leave us with at least a pair of pants?" The same man begged, sitting cross-legged on the floor, naked except for a pair of underwear.

"Sixth: Bets sworn upon the Covenants shall be honoured." Rhea cut in, glaring at the man dangerously. "Unless you would like to cheat us of our rewards, oh noble, would-be thieves." He whimpered, pulling back and hiding behind his accomplices. She smirked, her head tilting back nonchalantly, hands folding behind her head as she stretched.

"We bet ourselves, including our lives, and to match that, you guys wagered all of your belongings. Remember?" Sora continued for her.

"That's true, but you can't just leave us like this." The man said once Rhea had turned away to stand next to Sora, Shiro occupying his other side.

"Let's go you two," Sora called.

"Roger!" The girls replied in unison.

"Wait, kid!" The three men shouted, calling for them to help.

"At least let me take a swing at you!" The leader shouted as they cried, two pounding their fists into the ground.

* * *

After a while of walking, Sora finally spoke up. "Looks like not even bandits will attack or rob you here."

"They probably couldn't, even if they tried." Shiro continued.

"Which means...it all comes down to gaming skill, huh?" He replied.

"But, you have to agree that it is far better than our world. When there was a war between the major political forces of our world, no God stepped in to put an end to it and make those responsible see reason, no matter the death toll. In that retrospect, I think we may find beings here that could actually be wise enough to learn from the mistakes that led them to 'raise a tower of corpses' and give us a decent challenge compared to the stupidity of the humans we became used to." Rhea explained her thoughts to her friends, who looked at her in astonishment.

"Oh, great and social one, we bow to you..." Shiro half bowed in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"And you always wonder why we make you get the supplies! You understand people far more than we could."

"Well, it does help to not be scared of people in general." Rhea sent a pointed glance towards the two before smiling brightly and skipping ahead of them. "This is going to be absolutely amazing! Think about it! We're in a world where you only need gaming skills to survive! This is perfect for us! Tet was right, we were born into the wrong world!" She giggled and slowed down to join her friends, still ecstatic about being in a perfect fantasy world.

"Speaking of clothes, actually…" Sora swung around to face Rhea, pointing at her accusingly. "When are you going to put some clothes on?!" She looked mildly confused for a moment before she looked down. She was only wearing the bikini style, soft leather top she usually wore for their prolonged gaming sprees to cover the top half of her body. She shrieked before throwing on a cloak they had taken from one of the 'bandits'.

"How did I not notice that?!" Her face was bright red. "Of all outfits to wear when travelling to another world, meeting a God and doing a 10,000m skydive, it had to be this!" She sighed. "At least I'm wearing a decent skirt. Tet has good taste in shoes though, for not wearing any himself and this being a bit of a rush job."

"There, there, Nii…" Shiro was comforting Sora, who had belatedly realised his mistake.

"The view is goneeeeeeeee!" He wept before Rhea lifted the purple boot-clad leg she had been inspecting and slowly brought the long, pointed heel down on Sora's back, standing over him threateningly.

"What was that, my dear friend?" He shrieked and squirmed under her leather sole as she pressed him further and further into the ground, smirking evilly down at him.

* * *

 _Kingdom of Elkia: The Capital City of Elkia_

The three walked into the Inn and stood by the door, watching the game of cards between the two girls sat at a table in the middle of the tavern.

 _The girl with the dark hair is cheating. Arrogance makes you careless, yet her moves are flawless, so cheating is the only explanation as to how she is still winning. I also cannot see how she is cheating._ Looking around, the cloaked girl saw a figure with long, light hair and glowing eyes hiding her face beneath the hood of a cloak, much like herself. She suddenly remembered what Tet said about 'races' and the story about how the covenants came to be. _Did that mean that magic could be real? So the dark-haired girl must have asked someone to help her win the match; she wouldn't have needed assistance if she could use magic herself and the people around seem to be unable to tell, so humans must not have much of an affinity for magic. What could be so important about winning this game to go to such extent as to ask another race for help just to cheat? It must be the repercussions of the bet. But that would also mean that this match was scheduled – she would have needed time to ask her little foreign friend for help. This is most likely a tournament then, but what is the prize? Something important, but... I do not have enough knowledge about the extents to which these covenants can fulfil bets. This could be something like a tournament for the ability to use magic, which would require altering the DNA of the human race, so essentially... Until we learn more, we are at a disadvantage._ She shook her head. _Focus. Worry about that later. For now..._

She broke from her train of thought and turned to the lady sat behind the trio. "Excuse me?" She politely inquired. The lady looked up with minor interest and nodded her head to signal her to go on. "What is this match?"

She looked at her for a moment, as if assessing her worth, before Rhea gave a small polite smile and tilted her head innocently. She studied her for a second longer before tearing her gaze back to the match and answering.

"A gambling tournament to determine the next king of Elkia. It was the last King's dying wish. He wants the next King to be humanity's best gambler."

"So even the king is decided by a game." She heard Sora mumble from the other side of Shiro, who was slumped against the wall, perched atop a barrel.

"What are your thoughts on the current state of the competition? Any candidates who stand out?" She turned back to the woman, leaning back against the wall and getting comfortable.

"The red-haired girl is Stephanie Dola. She's the granddaughter of the last king, but, because of his will, she can't inherit the throne. So she's entered the gambling tournament."

"Shiro, are you okay?" Rhea turned to see the shorted girl slumping down further against the wall and worried her lip between her teeth. They had all been awake for at least five days and that ridiculous walk did nothing to help their exhaustion.

"I'm fine," Shiro answered quietly as Sora eyed up the pouch woman sat near them had placed on the table, gold coins spilling out slightly. Rhea pushed off from the wall and scooted next to the white-haired girl, wrapping an arm loosely around the girl's shoulders and tugging her gently to lean against her bosom, where she happily dozed off.

The woman eventually noticed Sora's staring. "What? Falling in love with me?"

"No," Sora answered playfully as he moved over to sit opposite her, "I was just wondering if you were going to enter.

"Me?" She asked, leaning forward slightly and poking the pouch of coins. "This is all I need." She glanced over at the table where the two candidates for the title of King were still playing poker. "And…that Kurami girl is so strong that most of the other players withdrew."

"In other words," Sora shifted to lean on his elbows, his hands folding in front of him, "you're scared?"

"What?"

"Well, as long as you don't actually lose here, you can make up any number of excuses later." He tilted his head, closed his eyes and raised a hand nonchalantly in a half shrug. "'I actually won, but let her go,' for example."

"Hm? Interesting." She reached out to position her hand above her deck of cards. "Want to play, boy?"

The teen's head tilted down slightly. "Sorry, but I don't play for fun. Bet all that money."

The woman reared back in shock. "What?! Do you know how much is in here?" She rested her hand on the table, closing it into a fist as she stared at him seriously. "We have to bet something we both agree is equal, or it isn't a game."

"Pledge three, was it?" He gestured over to where the two girls were resting, Rhea half opening her eyes lazily and subtly nodding her head in acknowledgement. "Fair enough… How about you can do whatever you want with the three of us?" The woman choked down a gasp. "Sell us, abandon us, whatever you want."

"Are you serious?"

"We're serious," Rhea muttered as the woman's wide-eyed gaze flickered between her and Sora in disbelief.

"We'll play a single hand of poker. What do you say?" He smirked at her. "This is your last chance to quit."

"Don't get cocky, outsider." She glared at him, but her voice was unsteady. Her hand was visibly trembling where it grasped the pouch of coins. "I'll do it." She half raised her hand. "I swear by the pledges."

Sora copied her action. "I swear by the pledges."

The two glared at each other. "Aschente!" They cried out together. The woman took the deck and swiftly dealt, smirking. She took her cards and slammed one face down on the table with a flourish. She drew from the deck, grinning.

"Sora…" Rhea sent him a pointed look, but he kept his eyes on his cards, his poker face in full force. He closed his eyes before throwing his hand, glumly drawing again.

"Bad luck, huh?" The woman taunted. "Poor thing."

"Yeah." Sora raised his head. "I started the day with a 10,000 meter skydive, then walked forever under the blazing sun. Definitely a bad day." He finished offhandedly, still focused on his cards.

"What are you talking about?" She turned her gaze toward him with mild curiosity.

"Nothing. You ready?" His voice was steady.

The woman smirked. "I'm ready. I'll let you exchange cards once more, if you want."

"No, thanks."

"Oh? Then…" She grinned victoriously. "Sorry, boy!" She cried, standing and placing a hand on her hip as she revealed her hand. "Full house!"

"Oh, yeah." He set down his own cards. "'Sorry' is right."

The woman's eyes widened, and the grin fell from her face. "Ro…" She slammed her hands down on the table, leaning over it as she stared down at his cards in astonishment. "Royal…" Her tongue rolled exaggeratedly. "S-straight…" She stared up at him, before returning to the cards, panting wildly. "F-F-Flush?!" She raised her hands to her face and closed her eyes, turning away from the cards as though they had burned her eyes. "No way! No way! No way!"

Sora stood casually, disregarding the woman's dramatic position and sticking his hands in his pockets. "Look close. It's real."

"Impossible!" She did as he said and slammed back down against the table to stare at the cards once again. "There's only a 1 in 6,150,000 chance…"

"And that's what just happened."

"But…!" She threw her head back to stare up at him.

"Pledge six." Sora stared down at her mercilessly as Rhea stood to gather Shiro in her arms, resting her on her hip and allowing her to continue to rest against her bosom, happily positioning her chin above her head as the younger girl settled once again. "Any bets must be upheld." He held out a hand. "Right?"

"Just who are you?" The woman asked before handing over the pouch of coins.

"Nobody special. Just…" He took the pouch and flicked the hood off his head, "an outsider." The two of them turned and walked away.

Once they had gone around the corner, Rhea spoke up. "Cheater." She accused playfully, chuckling quietly.

"Pledge eight: Being caught cheating during a game is grounds for an instant loss." Sora held up his phone, smirking. "In other words, if you're not caught, it's fine. Besides, you're one to talk." He glared at her. "You hacked Pokemon when we were little because you were bored of the repetitive storyline." She giggled.

"There had been new games released since I had last played, but it always takes forever to transfer all the Pokemon just for the bloody Pokedex! I was not going to waste that much time when I knew that I had completed it anyway." They shared an amused glance. "Anyway, how much is in there?"

"No idea." He tossed the pouch up and caught it deftly. "Just leave it to me. Negotiations are my speciality." She raised an eyebrow. "Okay fine, they're yours, but you're carrying Shiro in the most adorably motherly way possible, so you're lacking any kind of intimidation you could have gathered otherwise." She pouted.

"I'm more threatening with you even with Shiro here."

"You're absolutely terrifying. Blush and all." He smirked before heading to the bar and placing a coin down on the counter. "I'll take a room for three." The bartender looked up at him. "One large bed is fine. How many nights can I stay with this?"

The bartender looked away and answered, "One night."

Sora chuckled. "I'm really tired." He raised his voice slightly, gathering the attention of the surrounding customers. "Why don't you tell me how many nights I can really stay?" He pointed at him. "If you're trying to cheat someone, you should pay more attention to your tone and where you're looking."

The man tutted. "Two nights."

"And there you go again." Sora's playful tone contrasting against the sly undercurrent his voice held as he lowered his head slightly to glare up at the man. "I'll give you a tip" His eyes narrowed, "think very carefully about who you lie to, okay?" He took the key and twirled it around his finger as he straightened up. "Okay, four nights. Thanks." The playful tone was back in his voice as he turned to walk away.

"What's your name?" The man asked as he went to make note of their stay on a clipboard, quill in hand.

"Just leave it blank."

* * *

While Sora had been negotiating, Shiro had woken up and was taking pictures of the game taking place in the centre of the room. "Sorry for the wait, Shiro, Rhea." Rhea nodded to him as he placed a hand on top of Shiro's head.

"She's going to lose." The girl said as she lowered the phone, staring at Stephanie Dola.

"Definitely." Rhea agreed.

"Sure she will. She doesn't know the term 'poker face,' unlike her oppone-" He paused, eyes narrowed. "She's cheating?"

"No doubt about it." Shiro's eyes also narrowed at the players. "But…" She ran numerous calculations through her head, but none seemed to fit. "I can't tell how."

"I see…" Sora's eyes drifted across the room, focussing on a cloaked figure sat in the corner where the bar met a wall, watching the game intently. "I can't believe it, but this world…" He chuckled slightly. "Seriously?"

"What will you do? Fold?" Kurami subtly taunted as she waited for Stephanie to take her turn.

"Sh-Shut up!" The pink-haired girl said as she surveyed her cards even more intently, tears building in the corners of her eyes. "Let's fight fair and square! Um… um…" She calmly drew a card with her eyes closed before looking at it hopefully. "Okay!" She placed her sole chip forward on the table but paused when Sora approached her and rested a hand on the back of her chair, facing away from her.

"She's cheating." He informed her, before joining Shiro and Rhea as they began to head toward their room. Stephanie gasped and watched as they disappeared up the stairs until Kurami called for her attention.

"Then, you're ready, right?"

"O-Of course!" They revealed their hands.

* * *

"Smartphones. DSPs. Tablet. Battery and solar charger. Cables…" Having finished setting up the solar charger, he looked back at Shiro as she inspected a phone.

"Is this all we have?" She asked.

"Well, after what happened, maybe we're lucky we've still got this much."

"Definitely," Rhea smirked from her seat on the bed. "I always wondered when we might ever need that solar charger, but I'm glad it came in handy for once."

"I can't get a signal."

"I'm sure." Sora looked out the window. "This is a true fantasy world." He rested his chin on his hand as Shiro climbed onto the bed.

"Hm. Everything, even the air here, feels completely different to what we are used to."

"The way she was cheating… Seriously, there's gotta be a limit."

"Nii," Shiro stared up at him, "can you beat that?" His silence was answer enough. "It was a stupid question." She collapsed on the bed with a flump.

"Hey, you two… Usually, in a story, when the protagonists end up in another world, they try their best to find a way home, right? Why would they try to go back to a world like that?"

"Because they either don't like games, or like them, but are bad at them." The two of them looked down at Shiro, who seemed to have fallen asleep, gently holding Sora's thumb. They shared a small smile. Sora reached over to cover her with the sheets.

"I think so, too…" Shiro mumbled sleepily, momentarily surprising them.

"Then it's decided." He said as he reached for his phone, opening up the task list app. He smirked. "Now, let the game begin."

* * *

A knock door made Rhea slowly open her eyes, groaning and glaring at the door, before sitting up with Sora and clinging to his shoulders, her front pressed against his as her legs folded by their side. She tucked her head into the side of his neck.

"Shiro, I'm glad, as your brother, that you love me so much, but let me go for a second." He looked down at Rhea, whose bleary eyes met his. "I won't even comment on you." She nodded, before curling up with Shiro as Sora manoeuvred himself out from under them. "Who's there?" He called as he crossed the room and opened the door. "I paid up front-" He paused as he was met with the sight of Stephanie Dola stood in the hallway wearing nothing but a large piece of brown cloth and her signature hair accessory.

"Can I come in?" She asked in an even tone, despite the tear waiting to fall from her eye.

* * *

You poor, poor unfortunate readers... My sincere apologies! In this fandom, so horrifically deprived of fanfics, I have let you down as an author. Two years have passed. Two! During that time, my passion for this story stalled and faded to a slight twinkle, leaving it and you abandoned in the darkest, cruellest way possible...

HOWEVER! Said twinkle has erupted in my chest and burns brighter than ever with the release of the No Game No Life: Zero movie, which I finally watched last week! I will admit with no shame, I teared up. Badly. I did not cry, as I refused to sniffle and be unable to hear the beautiful background music, but I did tear up. And as such! I shall continue this story (and others) with a fervour never before seen from the terrible, irresponsible author that is I!

ALSO! Know that through unfortunate health-related circumstances, I shall be a NEET until next September. Expect wonderful things from this excess time I have! Also, please accept my excuse for being a NEET in this instance as wanting to relate to my character better – it sounds nobler that way~!

I would also not usually do this as I tend to be a bit shy about praise for my stories (going so far as to freak my family out when they began to worry about why I refused to specify what, precisely, the noble events of my day had been, until I eventually blushed – much to my dismay- and relented to telling them that I had been writing stories), however these dear reviewers displayed passion for this story and urged me to update it when my own passion had run dry. As a result, I would like to sincerely thank: CreativeDaydream (I want her character to be deep enough for you, as readers, to become attached to Rhea and her funny little quirks, so that means a lot!), Jerzu (Your comment made me feel the need to get off my arse and give you the story that you deserve.), Child-of-Strength (The direction may be vague, but I assure you that I will do my upmost to ensure that it will be entertaining!), Guest, gamegirl, Sakuraisnotpink (Sentence has been, at long last, finished! It was once the start of a long and wonderful paragraph, but when the horror that is 'forgetting to save, then computer crashing' struck, there was little left to salvage, leaving the poor, poor sentence so unbearably sad and lonely. But now! It flourishes! And even has paragraph after paragraph after it, even more so than there had been before disaster hit! So wonderful~!), Copper001, katmar1994, TheAmazingAnimeLover, , and Neri-San (The movie has given me an even better idea of Tet's character, so expect more!).  
To those who asked me to update, I apologise for the wait, but please enjoy the now complete chapter~!


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